Ask Dr. Dickie

Part III

(3)     Everyone Has a Story – Learn to Sell Yours  

I reinvented my career but I carried the authentic story of my life, the story that made me successful in construction management into my new life.  That story gave me validity, credibility, notoriety and confidence to try something new. I had to communicate my history of giving successful presentations, forming strategic partnerships and creating contract opportunities for hundreds of businesses, in a format that would attract new clients.  My products are sold in bookstores and on Amazon.com. Recently, my storytelling was the impetus behind winning the Fit for Fall Contest with O, The Oprah Magazine.  Learn to tell your unique story and all sorts of doors will open up. 

Notice my emphasis on confidence. In the book, “All Things Are Possible Through Prayer” Charles Allen states: “A man who has lost his nerve is a pitiful creature. He shrinks from every task and he turns away from every opportunity.  But when he believes in himself, he develops power and strength he did not know he had.” 

Part II

Reinvention and Repackaging 

I realized that because I had hit the glass ceiling and my skills and talent were no longer being fully utilized, I had become complacent and extremely bored on that dream job but was afraid to let go of the familiar. Like an unhappily married wife I hung around in misery way too long, blaming my partner for my unhappiness instead of myself. The funny thing is once I let go of what I use to have and got my ego out of the way, I started to get enormously excited about all the choices I had in front of me.  I jotted down all the things that others said I did best and a pattern began to emerge. I motivated and inspired others, I was a great public speaker/presenter and I was a vehicle for important information. The challenge was how to utilize my day-to-day skills from my old job and repackage them into a new career.  I decided to start my own consulting firm to teach laid off workers and college graduates how to conduct successful job interviews, business presentations and public speaking assignments. Tony Robbins, Magic Johnson and Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google all appeared on Larry King Live. Their message you don’t have a choice you have to reinvent yourself. Call it, Three Men and a Lady; we’re all saying the same thing.

Too many women devalue their skill set. I’ve heard many women in my exercise class, in the workshops I’ve hosted and even family members say, I only do volunteer work or I’m just a mother or l could never go after that job because it pays too much money.  I can’t remember the last time I heard a man state that they were pretty lousy at something or that they could not pursue a job because it pays too much money; most of the time it is their absolute confidence that sells their value to the interviewer. Know yourself, know your value. Create value by knowing, writing down and quantifying your skills. Never create a resume or go on a job interview, before you know the answers to these four critical questions:  

1. What am I qualified to do?
2. Why am I qualified to do it better?
3. Where have I done it?
4. How well have I performed? 

Make sure you quantify your success and have three to five examples of accomplishments How many widgets have you sold?  How many problems have you solved? Are you a natural born salesperson?  From this ME analysis, create your value proposition, which is a proposition that tells the employer how your skills and talent can benefit its needs. Remember a job interview is about what you offer, want and expect from the employer versus what the employer is looking for, needs, offers and will provide.  Many companies today are in trouble because they’ve lost market share and they’ve lost credibility with the American public. At the funeral of Eunice Kennedy Shriver her daughter Maria Shriver stated: “Mummy was scary smart and she wasn’t afraid to show it.  She wore men’s pants, smoked Cuban cigars and played tackle football; she was always her authentic self.” Be scary smart, give back and always as Eunice Kennedy Shriver did let your value proposition provide the answer to a need.

Now that you have created this aura of greatness that surrounds you, don’t ruin it by having anything you wouldn’t want your mother to see on LinkedIn, Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, Twitter or any other social networking site. In New Jersey, 2 workers sued after their boss logged on to MySpace a social-networking site owned by News Corp. (NWS) -- read their critical comments and fired them, the Wall Street Journal reports.  Needless to say, that wasn’t good for their personal brand or future careers.  Never talk or post negative comments about your current or previous employer. I know some of you may have to pop a Prozac on that one but don’t do it.  Employers are known to search your name so use a professional email name not SexyGraphicDesigner@gmail.com.

Ask Dr. Dickie is your resource for advice and tips on interviewing techniques, business presentations, business strategies and career success.  I appreciate you stopping by my blog to leave a comment, or tell a story or just to say hi.  This blog was intended to help you think about your career in a whole new way.  I hope it has helped you have a more satisfying career.  I will strive to continue to bring you information that is up-to-date, relevant and beneficial.  Thank you for making it a success!

To learn more about the company or to purchase its how-to products on job interviewing call 404 567-5790 or log onto www.dgsconsultingllc.com. Korean Americans, log onto http://korean.dgsconsultingllc.com.  One dollar from every CD purchase will be donated to the American Red Cross/Haiti until June 12, 2010.    

Bloggers continue to connect with her at http://askdickie.dgsconsultingllc.com.  Follow her on Facebook and http://twitter.com/DickieSykes.  Dickie will be speaking on May 14, 2010 at the ‘Women Who Rule the World” panel discussion at the Hilton in Atlanta, GA.